I host a weekly illustration class with students at a school in Hong Kong, and last week I had the brilliant idea doing a class inspired by the work of Javier Perez. Basically we just grabbed a bunch of random stuff and turned them into other random stuff. Here's some of their pieces:
Octographer
I recently watched a video online of an octopus taking photos at an aquarium in New Zealand. His name is Rambo (I really regret not drawing him with a red headband on), and he is now known as the Octographer. My first thought when I saw this was, 'where do get one of these?' (as you know, my full time job is as an award winning wedding photographer). As it turns out, not only do most pet stores not sell octopuses that can take pictures, most of them don't even sell octopuses! I had to buy a goldfish instead, but without tentacles it lacked the capabilities to operate a camera. Oh well, I guess this cartoon is going to have to do.
32 Bottles of Beer | part 2
This is part 2 of the super popular Land of Le Beef exclusive series, "32 Bottles of Beer". Basically it's a loose, illustrative review of some random beers that have been delivered to me through the Beer of the Month Club at the Bottle Shop in Hong Kong. Since the first review, I have grown an appreciation for hops and IPA's, I have discovered a few breweries that are awesome, and I have learned how to draw a clown riding a really short unicycle.
Wells - Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale
Moonzen - Moon Goddess Chocolate Stout
St Austell - Big Job
Hey Diddle Diddle
My daughter's favourite book right now is Hickory Dickory Dock (she's 5 months old; she mostly just likes to chew on it). Anyway, I've have nursery rhymes on my mind a lot lately, and I had an idea of drawing a few of them with surprise endings, starting with one of the most non-sensical of them all - Hey Diddle Diddle.
When you break it down, this nursery rhyme has it all - cats playing music, kitchenware frolicking through open fields, cows performing fairly spectacular feats, dogs laughing - and this is just what is being mentioned, who knows what else is happening outside of the scene.
Coming soon (maybe) - Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, and Yankee Doodle
What a Wonderful World
I think we can all agree that there is a lot of worthless stuff on the internet. But every once in while something comes along that cuts through the madness of it all, something so inspirational that it makes you stop and wonder about your place in the universe. This week I saw not just one, but two of these things:
1. A lone lizard decides to pick up a leaf, sits back against a log, and starts playing it like a classical guitar. We may never know what sweet music was in his heart, or what secret longing drew him to pick up the leaf in the first place, but one thing is for sure - there is beautiful music living in all of us.
2. A weasel jumps onto the back of a woodpecker, and they embark on an incredible journey together; the wind blowing on their faces as they soar through the clouds, and the ground passing beneath them like a movie reel. Where did the go? What did they experience? This brief and beautiful flight will someday be long forgotten, but for one extraordinary moment, the whole world was forever changed for these two creatures.